What's Wrong?

Alex Cosio
Pastor of Hispanic Ministries

I heard the story of a young man whose friends played a prank on him. While he was asleep, they rubbed an ointment with a very bad odor on his upper lip underneath his nose. When he woke up he complained: “this room stinks!” So he left the room and went outside. As he was walking through the hallway he said: “this hallway surely stinks.” He got into his car; as he started driving, he noticed the bad odor in his car too, so he complained: “this car is really stinky!” Everywhere he went he complained saying: “This really stinks.” It took him a while to realize that he was the one who stunk!

This story illustrates a problem that is common to many of us. There are people who constantly complain; and complain about everything. They complain about their neighbor, about their friends, their coworkers, their children, their spouse, their boss, their church, the prices, the government, the weather, etc. Do you know anybody like that? It is very easy to see the wrongs and defects on everybody else and never ask ourselves: “Could it be me the one that is wrong?”
The Lord Jesus said: “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” (Luke 11:34-35) What a revelation! Could it be that we need to come into the light? What a difference the light makes around us! Jesus said: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

The Lord promises that if we come into his light everything around us will look different. Your neighbor might be the same but will look different because of the light of Jesus. Your spouse might be the same, but it will look different because of the light of Jesus. Before we complain and judge, let us ask ourselves: Am I looking through the light of Jesus or through the darkness of this world? Let us challenge ourselves by asking: Am I walking in the light of Jesus?